Final Fantasyseems to have forgotten how to have fun. The once-great series is at a bit of a crossroads today. Its most recent mainline entry,Final Fantasy 16, was generally well-received, but didn’t come close to its all-time greats, and was critiqued for its sluggish story. The ongoingFF7 Remaketrilogy has been similarly praised, but the second entry,FF7 Rebirth, struggles with an overwhelming amount of content bloat. With quality of service for its highly successful MMO,FF14, on the decline, the series is struggling to find an internal role model.
Final Fantasyhas always been willing to try new things, and that’s largely the reason for its success.FF4’s switch from traditional turn-based combat to ATB stuck with the series for years, making it stand out in the RPG market. The science fantasy setting ofFF7provided a solid backdrop for its most iconic, enduring entry. But, from time to time, in its willingness to change the formula,Final Fantasyloses core parts of its identity.Its latest major loss is its sense of humor, and we’re all dealing with the consequences of it.
Final Fantasy Is Known For Both Humor & Heart
A Delicate Balance
Way back when,Final Fantasyused to be known for its eclectic blend of humor and heart. The best games in the series balance serious story moments with comic relief. The oppressive, polluted world ofFF7has a tiny little robot cat running around it, rolling slots to pull off powerful attacks. Later,FF9introduces Vivi with a pratfall and a collectible card game, and later has him deliver the line, “How do you prove you exist? Maybe we don’t exist.“FFXhas the infamous fake-laughing scene, only to culminate in a bittersweet ending that tears your heart out.
Comic relief is one thing:it’s important to disperse moments of light-hearted humor throughout a dark, melodramatic storygame like many of the earlyFFtitles. This helps make those big, tragic moments stand out, and gives players time to think about what they’ve witnessed before diving into the next story beat. Admittedly, they’re also as self-indulgently fun to write as they are to watch, which is probably no small part of the reason why Square Enix’s writers keep including them.
But the wayFinal Fantasyuses humor is much more than comic relief. EachFinal Fantasygame is a wide-ranging epic, aimed at depicting life in its unique fantasy world from every possible angle.Including humor in that formula is important- it makes these fantasy worlds feel alive, even closer to the real world. Just as we use humor to cope withdistressing, terrifying, and tragic real-world events, so too do characters inFinal Fantasy. That has the added side effect of endearing us to them, so we feel it more strongly when they suffer.
Modern Final Fantasy Games Struggle With The Balance
FF Has Become Humorless - Or Too Funny
ButmodernFinal Fantasyhas repeatedly struggled to strike that balance.FF15makes an earnest attempt: its main story revolves around a road trip between four close friends, who are constantly goofing off and ribbing each other in what’s basically an extended bachelor party for protagonist Noctis. The pervasive sense of humor is a big part of the core four’s characterization, and it’s arguably one of the best aspects of the game. But ultimately,FF15fails to reconcile these moments of kidding around with its underlying story about grief and potential.
The following mainline game,FF16, goes too far in one direction. It has a darker story than mostFinal Fantasygames, and I can’t fault it that - but it rarely, if ever, manages to humanize its characters through humor. For the most part,FF16goes so far in trying to feel gritty and realistic that the series' characteristic sense of humor falls by the wayside. When it does attempt comic relief, its humor comes from puns and banter, not so much silly slapstick, which makes Clive and Cid feel more like buddy cop protagonists than relatable people.
TheFF7remake trilogy has attempted to recapture the humor of the original, butit goes too far, often getting lost in periods of prolonged foolishnessbetween big, tragic story moments. Sure, the bald bar scene is fun, but it doesn’t add anything to the overarching story, and it goes on way too long, running the joke into the ground. AndI love a silly mini-gameas much as the next person, but there are too many of them - and with multiple difficulty levels and a whole menu of rewards, most of them overstay their welcome, too.
Final Fantasy’s Next Game Should Focus On The Tone
Tell A Good Story First; The Rest Will Follow
There’s been a lot of talk about what the nextFinal Fantasygame should look like. Should it be original or remake?Turn-based or real-time? Medieval fantasy or modern? These are all valid questions, and everyone had their opinions. But frankly, I think all of these considerations pale in comparison tothe most important aspect of the bestFinal Fantasygames: a good story.
When I think of the most powerful moments, the things that have really stuck with me from theFinal Fantasyseries,they’re all character-focused: Aerith’s fate inFF7, Dagger cutting her hair inFF9, Tidus leaping into the abyss at the end ofFFX. These scenes are memorable because they’re pivotal moments in well-crafted arcs, portrayed by characters who feel like real human beings.
It’s only because we’ve been able to laugh with them that we’re moved to cry for them.
And all these moments have one more thing in common:FFuses humor to set all these characters up. It’s only because we’ve been able to laugh with them that, in these moments, we’re moved to cry for them when their stories come to a climax.
That’s what the nextFFgame needs to focus on first: telling a good, relevant, moving story, with characters who are fleshed out and humanized. One of the most important tools in its kit, when it comes to crafting characters, is its sense of humor. Whatever it looks like, plays like, is like, I hope the nextFinal Fantasygame strikes the perfect balance between comedy and levity again.
